Grained soft wood



' (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

J. SHANNON.

GRAINED SOFT WOOD- No. 466,376. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.

INVENTOR WITNESSES (No Model.) 3-Sheets'Shee.t 2.

" J. SHANNON.

B NED SOFT WOOD. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.

WITNESSE5 (No Model.) '3 Sheets-Sheet 3.'

J. SHANNON.

GRAINED SOFT WOOD.

Patented Jan. 5,1892;

INVENTOR.

WITNESSES.

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UNITED] STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SHANNON, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND PETERCASEY, OF SAME PLACE, AND IVILLIAM W. GRIER, OF

HULTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAINED S OFT WOOD.

S2EGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,376, dated January5, 1892. Application filed January 30, 1891. Serial No. 379,647. (Nospecimens.)

.vertical section on the line III III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 5 is a sectional View of anindenting-roller of modified construction. Fig. 6 is a plan view of anindented and filled board.- Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line VIIVII of Fig. 6.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each. p

The object of my'invention is to make it possible to produce on softwood an imitation not only of the surface appearance of hard wood, suchas oak, ash, chestnut, &c., but to impart to the surface thecharacteristic qualities of hardness, denseness, and strength whichpertain to the hard wood.

In treating wood in accordance with my invention I take a piece of softwoodsuch as pine, poplar, hemlock, or other woods possessing thepeculiar characteristics appertaining to wood of the class known to theart as soft wood-and by means of suitable apparatus I produce on itssurface series of numerous small indentations or cuts extending in theline of the grain of the wood and placed near to each other in suchposition as to imitate closely the peculiar arrangement of the surface.pores forming the growth or pattern of the wood desired to be simulated.The depth of these cuts is preferably about one-sixteenth of an inch,more or less. WVhen the board has been treated thus, I apply to itssursuch composition that it will harden and set in the artificial pores,producing on the woods surface a mosaic composed of a great number ofstony plugs firmly embedded in the Wood in close proximity to eachother. This brings out the ornamental pattern clearly and beautifully,and because of the hard nature imparted to the surface of the wood itmakes it hard and durable, practically as much so as the surface of truehard wood itself. The wood thus treated may then be polished orotherwise worked to adapt it to the use to which it is to be put.

The advantage which I derive from my invention is that I get a boardwhich because of the soft nature of its base can be worked and outwithout the labor and expense required in fitting hard wood, while. byreason of the induration of its surface it affords all the advantages ofdenseness, beauty, and susceptibility of high polish appertaining to thebest hard woods.

Asuitable mineral filler is made according to the following formula:Corn-starch, three parts; pumice-stone, one part; silver-whiting, sixparts. These ingredients are ground and mixed with oil and turpentine toform a paste.

Other suitable filling materials having a mineral base may be used,since my invention is not limited to any particular kind of fillerfurther than that it must be a mineral filler capable of hardening andsetting in the pores of the wood.

Referring now to the drawings, 2 represents the frame of a machineadapted to indent boards for the manufacture of my improved product. 3is the indenting-roller, journaled in suitable standards da'nd adaptedto be rotated by a belt-pulley 5, and 6 is a supporting-roller journaledbelow the roller 3. The indenting-roller is composed of a cylindricalshell set on a central shaft 7 and provided with a series of encirclingsteel-bands or rings 8, formed with indenting-teeth so situaterelatively to each other as to'impress ona board passed beneath theroller indentations arranged in proper order to produce a grain-patternon the surface thereof. The teeth may be formed by acid-etching, asdescribed in my prior patent application, Serial No. 350,748, filed May6, 1890, or

the roller and teeth may be otherwise formed, since their constructionand the mode of forming the indentations do not form features oflimitation of my present invention.

5 When the board is passed between the rollers o and (3, indentationsare pressed on it, as shown in Fig. (i. In Fig. 7 I show theseindentations filled with the plugs of mineral filler above described. Inthis figure the proportional size and intervening distance between theindentations are somewhat exaggerated for better illustration.

In Fig". 5 I show an indenting-roller of longitudinally-curvedperipheral outline adapted to indent moldings of corresponding shape incross-section.

I elain1-- Asa new article of manufacture, wood hav ing a natural softbody and an ind nrated snrface comprising series of closely-adjacentstony plugs of mineral paste set in artificial indentations arranged inproper order to simulate the natural surface appearance of hard wood,substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day ofJanuary, A. D1891.

JOHN SI'IANNON. Witnesses:

THOMAS W. BAKEWELL, W. 13. CORWIN.

